Plaque stolen from commemorative tree planted by town Mayor

As previously reported, Cllr Barbara Long and other members of the community gathered at Vigo Recreation Ground on Saturday, September 23, to remember both the family and friends lost to the pandemic, and the community heroes who gave their time to support others.

It was part of a wider tree-planting scheme, with the trees donated to many parishes across the borough by Test Valley Borough Council.

However, on Sunday morning, the tree’s plaque went missing, with an Andover councillor discovering it had been pulled from the site and thrown into a nearby bin.

Cllr Iris Andersen (TVBC, Andover St Mary’s) was out for a walk when she noticed the damage.

She told the Advertiser: “On Sunday morning, I went down and had a look around and noticed that the plaque had gone, and the mesh that had been put around the tree to protect it was bent right over. So they must have leaned on it to get it.

“The strap was broken from the tree as well. The plaque was gone, and was nowhere to be seen. I hunted all over the Vigo Park. Out of coincidence, I thought what about the bins? And they had chucked it in the bin!”

She continued: “That was terrible, to find it there. It’s not clever to do that. People have lost people through Covid, and the word is disrespectful.

“My partner, John, put the plaque back in place and lifted the wire back up.”

Reacting to the news, Mayor of Andover Cllr Barbara Long added: “I want to express my thanks to Cllr Iris Andersen, who searched the park. I am so grateful to her. I was absolutely dismayed when she phoned to tell me the plaque was missing.

“What was the point of them taking the plaque from the tree? It’s just mindless. I have no idea what they’ve got out of it. Was it a drunken prank?

“It was such a special tree, and it was wonderful when we planted it. We had people there who had lost family and friends as well as people who had helped the community, and it was representative of all of that.”

She continued: “It’s that minority that just don’t seem to have a pride in what Andover has done. It’s as though they have no regard for anybody’s feelings. They do it as a dare, or for a bit of a laugh, but it’s not funny.”

Cllr Long said she hopes that, by making people aware of the incident, it will help give others the courage to speak out when they see something that doesn’t seem right.

“Those people that care need to call out when they see these things,” she said.

“It can be scary, we don’t want to challenge people when they do something we think isn’t right because they can become aggressive. But more people take pride in our community than don’t, and these small incidents need to be reported to the police because then areas can become known as hotspots.

“It is a form of bullying, and that’s not what community is about. You have to call the bullies out, not give into them, otherwise they continue doing what they want.“

Cllr Phil North, leader of Test Valley Borough Council, said he was “shocked” to hear of the vandalism, and assured residents that the plaque will be secured to avoid further incidents.

He said: “The tree in Vigo Recreation Ground is one of a number of trees Test Valley have gifted Parish and Town councils up and down the Borough - planting new life into the ground - to commemorate the events of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“I was shocked to see that the plaque on the one Andover Town Council planted had been removed over the weekend. The attitude of that particular individual beggars belief. I’m pleased to see that the plaque has been recovered though - and the countryside team at Test Valley will liaise with the Town Council to ensure a robust refix using a ground anchor.”